FEEDBACK COLUMN: Business in Detroit as usual doesn't cut it with Lions

Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz and defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham on the sideline against the Chicago Bears during an NFL football game in Detroit, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Rick Osentoski)

Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz talks with Detroit Lions defensive back Tyrell Johnson (24) and defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch (93) during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears at Ford Field in Detroit, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Rick Osentoski)

Around the rest of the National Football League, the day after the regular season ends is known as "Black Monday" -- the day coaches and general managers of losing teams are held accountable for their actions.

Win ... you stay. Lose ... well ... you lose.

That's the way it works in the NFL. A coach, a general manager, a quarterback, a team is judged by one thing -- number of wins.

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Doesn't matter if you're a coach who has been to the Super Bowl before. Doesn't matter if you coach a team that was hampered by injuries in the second half of the season and just failed to make the playoffs. Doesn't matter if eight of the nine losses were decided by three points or less. Doesn't matter that five losses came in the last minute of regulation.

A loss is a loss. Lose enough times and you wind up looking for another place to work.

That's the way it works in the NFL.

There are only 32 teams in the league. On Monday, seven of them (22 percent) had coaches looking for a new address. Several other teams were seeking new general managers, too.

And then there are the Detroit Lions -- one of only a handful of teams left in the NFL that has never appeared in a Super Bowl.

One season removed from a 10-6 season that resulted in a first-round playoff loss to the New Orleans Saints, the Lions finished 4-12 in 2012.

There are more reasons than there are fingers on two hands as to why the LIons had such a horrible season -- poor choice of draft picks, lack of discipline on and off the field, no defensive backs, no breakaway running back, a kick returner who downs the ball at the 4-yard line, no special teams, poor coaching at times, etc.

Did Jim Schwartz do enough to lose his job in 2012?

Maybe, maybe not. However, someone in that organization did. Start with seven arrests in the offseason, throw in a sucker-punch to a teammate here, four kick returns for touchdowns by the opposition in two weeks there, and eight straight losses to end the season and it all adds up to someone should have been held accountable on Black Monday in Detroit.

Hard to fire the head coach just after signing him to an extension that runs through the 2015 season. But, hey, how about a public reprimand from the owner? How about letting the offensive coordinator know that touchdowns are preferred more than field goals in this league? How about putting the defensive coordinator on the street for last-minute or overtime losses to Houston, Indianapolis and Tennessee?

For Schwartz to come out on Monday and say, "It's business as usual here," should tell you all you need to know about the Lions. Know why the Lions haven't won a championship since 1957? Because it's been business as usual around here for a long, long time.

This was not a bad year for the Lions. It was worse than that. Detroit fans can live with teams that lose because they are overmatched. This is a town built on hard work and effort. The Lions lost because they were undisciplined, unprepared from the start and outworked.

The Lions have more than enough talent to build around with Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johson and Ndamukong Suh. It would be one thing to say the Lions were 4-12 if they lost any one of those three for an extended part of 2012. But they didn't. They lost because this team didn't do the little things -- beginning in the offseason -- it takes to win. Bad penalties, unforced turnovers, dropped passes and coaching brain freezes are why the Lions lost week after week.

So, what would you do if you were owner William Clay Ford? How would you get things turned around?

As always, The Oakland Press encourages readers to sound off about topics appearing in the sports section. Send your thoughts and opinions to sports editor Jeff Kuehn at jeff.kuehn@oakpress.com. Be sure to include your name, hometown and phone number for verification purposes.

Fodder to consider this week includes:

-- Do you think Denard Robinson will be an impact player in the NFL? If so, where do you he will be drafted and what position will he play?

-- Commissioner Gary Bettman has set Jan. 11 as the drop-dead deadline for the NHL and the players' union to reach an agreement and put together a 48-game season. How could two sides look at $3.3 billion and not figure out a way to share it? One for me, one for you.

-- I have to admit, for someone who thinks the college football season is meaningless, there were several games that were fun to watch -- South Carolina-Michigan, Oregon-Kansas State, Minnesota-Texas Tech, Louisville-Florida. I would still trade all of that in for a 32-team playoff system in a heartbeat. Any thoughts?

Feedback received recently follows:

Only the Lions ...

Only the Lions could pull such bizarre moves on Black Monday. Of the seven NFL head coaches who were axed, four had better records than Lions' head coach Jim Schwartz and two had led their teams to a Super Bowl during their tenure.

The Lions answer? Fire some assistants. Receivers coach Shawn Jefferson and offensive line coach George Yarno were among the casualties. Calvin Johnson credited Jefferson with developing him from a raw rookie talent into the most prolific receiver in the game today. I suppose it was Jefferson's coaching that broke Nate Burleson's leg or caused Ryan Broyles to injure his other ACL or Jefferson's fault GM Martin Mayhew and Schwartz, handed him a dysfunctional head case in Titus Young.

Yarno's offensive line did have issues opening up holes for the running backs, but, even so, Joique Bell averaged five yards a carry. Yarno's offensive line had the best adjusted sack rate (ASR) in the entire NFL. The ASR takes into account sacks per pass attempt adjusted for down, distance, and opponent. Matthew Stafford led the league in passing attempts with 727. The next nearest to Stafford is Drew Brees with 670. Those are the only two areas the Lions excelled.

Now if you want to look at a problem area that set a record, look at special teams, which set a league record for giving up both punt and kickoff returns for touchdowns in back to back games. That has never happened before. But the Lions special teams coordinator, Danny Crossman, is still with us. Schwartz and Mayhew should have been canned for their horrible mid- and late-round draft selections and drafting problem players with behavioral issues on and off the field.

Mayhew, at his abbreviated final news conference, stated that they need to get Stafford more help. Excuse me, since the Lions drafted Stafford they have drafted eight players in the first four rounds on offense -- three in the first, three in the second, a third- and a fourth-rounder and they picked up Nate Burleson to go with Johnson. Just how much help does Stafford need? Something is amiss and I have to think it's who they draft.

Then if things could not get any worst, Schwartz and Mayhew were quoted that Titus Young still had a chance to be on the team next year. Are you kidding me? Young ruined what was left of the season with his antics. Schwartz is a poor game clock manager and loses his mind at crunch time. He cost the Lions a win with the infamous flag toss that negated a review of a touchdown in the Houston game.

The Lions have 25 unrestricted free agents. If they are smart, the good ones will get out of this football mess. Think Jason Hanson would be contemplating retirement if he thought the Lions had a shot at the Super Bowl next year? Free agency and the draft will only offer limited help. So, look for more of the same next year. Only the Lions.

Richard L. Brower

West Bloomfield

Lions' issues start at the top

The Lions slinked out of the NFL season ender by being clawed by the Bears. After a 10-6 that earned them the playoffs for the first time in years, they regressed to a woeful 4-12 record. Their secondary and receiving corps were decimated by injuries, and their quarterback's mechanics got worse with every game. If he was getting help with his throwing mechanics, either he wasn't listening or isn't capable of repairing the problem.

If the Lions really have the best backup QB in the NFL, why didn't they put Stafford out of his misery and play Shaun Hill? A coach has very few cards to play during a game to change the momentum, but changing the QB is the most logical one.

First, the coach plays the cards that the GM deals him. By bringing in a number of problem players as clearly shown by review of the Lions' police blotter in the offseason, it's painfully obvious that the GM gave little or no regard to a player's character when slapping his name up on the draft depth chart. If it was my decision, I would trade Ndamukong Suh before he gets into a police situation that sends him to jail. He was totally invisible during the Bears game, just standing around watching the game go by. I would change the GM for making horrible selections of problem players and whoever is in charge of coaching the QB should go, too. While I have my broom out, why not get a new offensive coordinator? The play calling has been way too conservative.

Lastly, it's been said many times before, but until the Lions get an owner who wants to win as much as Mike Illitch, they aren't going anywhere.